Maryam Ghafouri could be executed at any time – please write immediately to save the life of an innocent, tortured Iranian woman

Please take action! Write to UN and government officials to STOP an innocent woman’s execution. According to reports from Adel Abad prison in Shiraz, Maryam is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday morning Tehran time. You can read more about her case here: http://persian2english.com/?p=23988 A sample letter is provided below: Sources tell rights campaigners that „Maryam“ Safieh Ghafouri is in imminent danger of execution. She is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday morning (Tehran time), July 11. Maryam was reportedly beaten and raped in prison when she was first arrested, leading to the loss of the unborn child she was carrying. As recently as June, for the third time, the death sentence for Safieh Ghafouri (a.k.a. Maryam), a 28-year-old woman who has been imprisoned in Adel Abad prison in Shiraz since 2006, was supposed to be carried out. At the age of 22, Ghafouri was arrested and charged with murder. After being subjected to harsh conditions, torture and brutal, constant rape by her captors– which caused her to lose her unborn child– Ghafouri was visited by prison officials who further pressured her to confess to the crime. Maryam was told that if she gave such a confession, prison officials would be able to obtain the consent of the parents of the murdered individual to forgive her and ultimately have her released. Despite evidence of her torture in prison and concerns about the legitimacy of her trial, acknowledged even by the head of the judiciary, Maryam was sentenced to death.

Recently, branch 4 of the Iranian Supreme Court had requested that Maryam be provided with a re-trial and her case be reviewed by the presiding Judge. Maryam’s case file was in the possession of the Supreme Court’s appeals court when suddenly, for unknown reasons and without any explanation, the case file was sent to branch 17 of the Supreme Court. In other words, in an illegal move, Maryam’s case file was sent from branch 4 of the Supreme Court, the place where the case file was supposed to be processed, to branch 17, the same branch that had initially processed Maryam’s death sentence. Legally, the case file should have remained in branch 4. Branch 17, in a haste and quick manner, rejected the request from the Supreme Court’s appeals court for a retrial. Maryam’s original case file is still in the possession of the Supreme Court. There are many inconsistencies and ambiguities in Maryam’s case that need to be addressed by the Judiciary– especially when a life is at stake.

Please do everything in your power to save the life of this young woman and ensure she receives a fair trial consistent with international norms and the protections Iran has agreed to as a signatory of both the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Thank you,